The instant invention relates to lottery games, and more particularly to a lottery ticket which is imprintable with gameplaying indicia at the point of sale.
Lottery tickets of the type known as instant-game tickets comprising a card having game-playing indicia imprinted on a window thereon and a removable opaque layer covering the window have been available for a number of years. Further, lottery tickets of this general type have been found to be extremely popular since they allow game players to immediately determine whether or not their tickets are winning tickets. Specifically, a purchaser of a lottery ticket of this general type can scratch off the removable opaque layer covering the window thereon with a coin or the like to immediately determine whether or not the game-playing indicia in the window represents a winning combination which entitles the ticket holder to a predetermined prize. It has also been found that although instant-game-type lottery tickets having various different appearances have been heretofore available, those having silver-colored layers on the front and back surfaces thereof have had the greatest appeal. However, while lottery tickets of this general type have been extremely popular with game players, they have created certain problems for those involved in the administration and sale of lottery tickets. Specifically, it has been found that because the heretofore available lottery tickets of this general type have been preprinted with game-playing indicia, they have inherently had cash values which have corresponded to their prices as lottery tickets; and hence, it has been necessary for venders to treat tickets of this type as currency. In addition, it has been found that because tickets of this type have been preprinted with game-playing indicia, vendors thereof have frequently been tempted to determine whether or not the tickets in their possession are winning tickets before they are sold. For example, vendors have been known to utilize high intensity lamps and even X-ray equipment to read the indicia imprinted on lottery tickets without removing the removable opaque layers which cover the indicia. Accordingly, while the heretofore available instantgame-type tickets of the above described type have proven to be highly popular with game players, the administration and handling of tickets of this type has been a problem.
The lottery tickets and articles disclosed in the U.S. patents to SANDEN, U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,673; KOZA, U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,856; and CARRIER et al, U.S. Pat No. 4,273,362, are generally exemplary of the types of articles which may be embodied as lottery tickets but which must be preprinted with concealed indicia. However, while the articles disclosed in these patents represent the closest patented prior art to the instant invention of which the applicant is aware, they all have the hereinabove described disadvantages of preprinted lottery tickets.
While the concept of providing instant-game-type lottery tickets which can be effectively imprinted with game-playing indicia at the point of sale has previously been proposed, an effective solution to this problem has not been heretofore available. In this connection, it has previously been proposed to apply thermal printing techniques to imprint game-playing indicia on instant-game-type tickets of this general type after the removable opaque layers have been applied thereto. However, in the only known previous attempt to make lottery tickets having thermally imprinted indicia thereon, the cards which were utilized did not have sufficient opacity; and as a result, it was possible to read the thermally imprinted game-playing indicia on the cards without damaging the removable opaque layers thereon by holding the cards up to intense light sources or by utilizing X-ray equipment. Further, although it has been recognized that the public generally prefers lottery tickets comprising cards having metallic silver-colored coatings on both the front and back surfaces thereof, it has generally not been considered to be possible to construct cards of this type for thermal printing applications. In this regard, it has generally been known that the metallic layers which are utilized for producing silver-colored coatings on cards are prone to oxidation, and it has also generally been known that many metallic oxides are highly abrasive and can therefore be extremely damaging to the relatively delicate printheads of thermal printers. For example, when aluminum is utilized in the metallic coatings on the surfaces of lottery tickets, aluminum oxide can be formed on the surfaces of the tickets; and since aluminum oxide is an extremely hard and abrasive material, it has been assumed that it would quickly damage the printheads of thermal printers. Hence, while the benefits of providing lottery tickets which can be thermally imprinted with game-playing indicia at the point of sale and which have silver-colored coatings on the front and back surfaces thereof have generally been recognized, an effective lottery ticket embodying these characteristics has not been heretofore available.
The instant invention provides an effective instant game-type lottery ticket which can be effectively imprinted with game-playing indicia at the point of sale. Further, the lottery ticket of the instant invention has sufficient opacity to prevent dishonest vendors from reading the indicia thereon, and the lottery ticket can be embodied with silver-colored coatings on the front and back surfaces thereof in order to make it more attractive and desirable from a marketing standpoint. Specifically, the lottery ticket of the instant invention comprises a card having a front side and a back side, a coating on the front side of the card comprising a first opaque silver-colored metallic layer in at least a portion of the coating, and an outwardly facing layer of a thermally responsive chemical in at least a portion of the coating, a removable opaque layer on at least a portion of the chemical layer, and a second opaque silver-colored metallic layer on the back side of the card in at least the area thereof which is opposite from the removable opaque layer. The removable opaque layer is preferably made of a latex material, it is removable by scratching it with a coin or the like, and it has a melting point which is greater than the response temperature of the thermally responsive chemical; and accordingly the removable opaque layer can easily be removed by a game player, but it is not damaged by a thermal printhead when the printhead is utilized for imprinting indicia on the chemical layer behind the removable opaque layer. In a first embodiment of the lottery ticket, the first silver-colored metallic layer is applied on the front side of the card, and the thermally responsive chemical layer is applied over the metallic layer so that when portions of the thermally responsive chemical layer are activated, game-playing indicia are imprinted on the silver-colored metallic layer. In this embodiment, the first silver-colored metallic layer preferably comprises a vacuum deposited silver-colored metallized layer which is preferably made of vacuum-deposited aluminum, and a first transparent film over the metallized layer which protects the metallized layer and which also protects a thermal printhead from being damaged by metallic oxides therefrom. The second silver-colored metallic layer preferably also comprises a vacuum-deposited silver-colored metallized layer and a transparent plastic film over the metallized layer. In a second embodiment of the lottery ticket, the first silver-colored metallic layer on the front side of the card is formed with a window therein, the thermally responsive chemical is applied in the window, and the removable opaque layer is applied over the thermally responsive chemical in the window. In this embodiment, the silver-colored metallic layer on the front side of the card preferably also comprises a vacuum-deposited silvercolored metallized layer, preferably an aluminum metallized layer, and a transparent plastic film over the metallized layer. The second silver-colored metallic layer on the back side of the card preferably also comprises a vacuum-deposited silver-colored metallized layer and a transparent plastic film over the metallized layer.
Accordingly, the lottery ticket of the instant invention effectively overcomes the disadvantages of many of the heretofore available instant-game-type lottery tickets. Specifically, the lottery ticket of the instant invention can be effectivley imprinted with game-playing indicia at the point of sale so that it has little or no value before it is imprinted and so that venders are not tempted to try to read the game-playing indicia before the card is sold. Further, the lottery ticket of the instant invention comprises an opaque metallic layer on the back surface thereof which prevents persons from reading the game-playing indicia on the lottery ticket without removing the removable opaque layer. Still further, in the preferred embodiment of the lottery ticket of the instant invention, the metallic layers on the front and back surfaces of the card are covered with plastic films to protect the metallized layers and also to prevent oxides from the metallized layers from damaging a thermal printhead utilized for imprinting indicia on the lottery ticket.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the instant invention to provide an improved instant-game-type lottery ticket.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide an instant-game-type lottery ticket which can be effectively imprinted with game-playing indicia at the point where it is sold to a customer.
A still further object of the instant invention is to provide an opaque lottery ticket which can be thermally imprinted with game-playing indicia without damaging a thermal printhead utilized for imprinting the indicia.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.